1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers
> 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river
estuaries.
2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes
(e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Geography[edit]
CarcassonneCarcassonne is located in the south of France, about 80 kilometres
east from the city of Toulouse. Its strategic location between the
Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea has been known since the
neolithic era.
The town's area is about 65 km2 (25 sq mi), which is
significantly larger than the numerous small towns in the department
of Aude. The rivers Aude, Fresquel and the
Canal du MidiCanal du Midi flow through
the town.
History[edit]
The first signs of settlement in this region have been dated to about
3500 BC, but the hill site of Carsac – a Celtic place-name that has
been retained at other sites in the south – became an important
trading place in the 6th century BC. The
Volcae TectosagesVolcae Tectosages fortified
the oppidum.[citation needed]
The folk etymology – involving a châtelaine named Carcas, a ruse
ending a siege and the joyous ringing of bells ("Carcas sona") –
though memorialized in a neo-Gothic sculpture of Mme. Carcas on a
column near the
NarbonneNarbonne Gate, is of modern invention. The name can be
derived as an augmentative of the name Carcas.
CarcassonneCarcassonne became strategically identified when Romans fortified the
hilltop around 100 BC and eventually made the colonia of Julia
Carsaco, later Carcasum (by the process of swapping consonants known
as metathesis). The main part of the lower courses of the northern
ramparts dates from Gallo-Roman times. In 462 the Romans officially
ceded
SeptimaniaSeptimania to the Visigothic king
Theodoric IITheodoric II who had held
CarcassonneCarcassonne since 453. He built more fortifications at Carcassonne,
which was a frontier post on the northern marches; traces of them
still stand. Theodoric is thought to have begun the predecessor of the
basilica that is now dedicated to Saint Nazaire. In 508 the Visigoths
successfully foiled attacks by the Frankish king Clovis.
SaracensSaracens from
BarcelonaBarcelona took
CarcassonneCarcassonne in 725, but King
Pepin the ShortPepin the Short (Pépin le
Bref) drove them away in 759-60; though he took most of the south of
France, he was unable to penetrate the impregnable fortress of
Carcassonne.[citation needed]
A medieval fiefdom, the county of Carcassonne, controlled the city and
its environs. It was often united with the County of Razès. The
origins of
CarcassonneCarcassonne as a county probably lie in local
representatives of the Visigoths, but the first count known by name is
Bello of the time of Charlemagne. Bello founded a dynasty, the
Bellonids, which would rule many honores in
SeptimaniaSeptimania and Catalonia
for three centuries.

CarcassonneCarcassonne became famous for its role in the Albigensian Crusades,
when the city was a stronghold of Occitan Cathars. In August 1209 the
crusading army of the Papal Legate, Abbot Arnaud Amalric, forced its
citizens to surrender.
ViscountViscount Raymond-Roger de
TrencavelTrencavel was
imprisoned whilst negotiating his city's surrender and died in
mysterious circumstances three months later in his own dungeon. The
people of
CarcassonneCarcassonne were allowed to leave - in effect, expelled from
their city with nothing more than the shirt on their backs. Simon De
Montfort was appointed the new viscount. He added to the
fortifications.
In 1240, Trencavel's son tried to reconquer his old domain, but in
vain. The city submitted to the rule of the kingdom of
FranceFrance in 1247.
CarcassonneCarcassonne became a border fortress between
FranceFrance and the Crown of
Aragon under the Treaty of Corbeil (1258). King Louis IX founded the
new part of the town across the river. He and his successor Philip III
built the outer ramparts. Contemporary opinion still considered the
fortress impregnable. During the Hundred Years' War, Edward the Black
Prince failed to take the city in 1355, although his troops destroyed
the Lower Town.[citation needed]

In 1659, the
Treaty of the PyreneesTreaty of the Pyrenees transferred the border province of
RoussillonRoussillon to France, and Carcassonne's military significance was
reduced. Fortifications were abandoned, and the city became mainly an
economic centre that concentrated on the woollen textile industry, for
which a 1723 source quoted by
Fernand Braudel found it "the
manufacturing centre of Languedoc".[2] It remained so until the
Ottoman market collapsed at the end of the eighteenth century,
thereafter reverting to a country town.[3]
Historical importance[edit]
CarcassonneCarcassonne was the first fortress to use hoardings in times of siege.
Temporary wooden ramparts would be fitted to the upper walls of the
fortress through square holes beneath the rampart itself. It provided
protection to defenders on the wall and allowed defenders to go out
past the wall to drop projectiles on attackers at the wall beneath.
Main sights[edit]
The fortified city[edit]

Fortified City Wall

Main article: Cité de Carcassonne

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this
section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material
may be challenged and removed. (July 2008) (Learn how and when to
remove this template message)

The fortified city itself consists essentially of a concentric design
of two outer walls with 53 towers and barbicans to prevent attack by
siege engines. The castle itself possesses its own drawbridge and
ditch leading to a central keep. The walls consist of towers built
over quite a long period.[4] One section is Roman and is notably
different from the medieval walls with the tell-tale red brick layers
and the shallow pitch terracotta tile roofs. One of these towers
housed the Catholic Inquisition in the 13th century and is still known
as "The Inquisition Tower".
CarcassonneCarcassonne was demilitarised under Napoleon and the Restoration, and
the fortified cité of
CarcassonneCarcassonne fell into such disrepair that the
French government decided that it should be demolished. A decree to
that effect that was made official in 1849 caused an uproar. The
antiquary and mayor of Carcassonne, Jean-Pierre Cros-Mayrevieille, and
the writer Prosper Mérimée, the first inspector of ancient
monuments, led a campaign to preserve the fortress as a historical
monument. Later in the year the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc,
already at work restoring the
BasilicaBasilica of Saint-Nazaire, was
commissioned to renovate the place.
In 1853, work began with the west and southwest walls, followed by the
towers of the porte Narbonnaise and the principal entrance to the
cité. The fortifications were consolidated here and there, but the
chief attention was paid to restoring the roofing of the towers and
the ramparts, where Viollet-le-Duc ordered the destruction of
structures that had encroached against the walls, some of them of
considerable age. Viollet-le-Duc left copious notes and drawings on
his death in 1879, when his pupil Paul Boeswillwald and, later, the
architect Nodet continued the rehabilitation of Carcassonne.
The restoration was strongly criticized during Viollet-le-Duc's
lifetime. Fresh from work in the north of France, he made the error of
using slates and restoring the roofs as point-free environment. Yet,
overall, Viollet-le-Duc's achievement at
CarcassonneCarcassonne is agreed to be a
work of genius, though not of the strictest authenticity.
Other[edit]
Another bridge, Pont Marengo, crosses the
Canal du MidiCanal du Midi and provides
access to the railway station.
Lac de la Cavayère has been created as
a recreational lake and is about five minutes from the city centre.

The newer part (Ville Basse) of the city on the other side of the Aude
river (which dates back to the Middle Ages, after the crusades)
manufactures shoes, rubber and textiles. It is also the centre of a
major AOC wine-growing region. A major part of its income, however,
comes from the tourism connected to the fortifications (Cité) and
from boat cruising on the Canal du Midi.
CarcassonneCarcassonne is also home to
the MKE Performing Arts Academy.
CarcassonneCarcassonne receives about three
million visitors annually.
Transport[edit]
In the late 1990s
CarcassonneCarcassonne airport started taking budget flights to
and from European airports and by 2009 had regular flight connections
with Porto, Bournemouth, Cork, Dublin, Frankfurt-Hahn,
London-Stansted, Liverpool,[8] East Midlands,
Glasgow-PrestwickGlasgow-Prestwick and
Charleroi.
The
Gare de CarcassonneGare de Carcassonne railway station offers direct connections to
Toulouse, Narbonne, Perpignan, Paris,
MarseilleMarseille and several regional
destinations. The A61 motorway connects
CarcassonneCarcassonne with
ToulouseToulouse and
Narbonne.
Education[edit]

École nationale de l'aviation civile

Language[edit]
Historically, the language spoken in
CarcassonneCarcassonne and throughout
Languedoc-
RoussillonRoussillon was not French but Occitan.
Sport[edit]
In 2016 Carcasonne was the starting point for stage 11 of the 2016
Tour de France, previously it was the starting point for a stage in
the 2004 Tour de
FranceFrance and a stage finish in the 2006 Tour de France.
As in the rest of the southwest of France, rugby union is popular in
Carcassonne. The city is represented by Union Sportive Carcassonnaise,
known locally simply as USC. The club have a proud history, having
played in the French Championship Final in 1925, and currently compete
in Pro D2, the second tier of French rugby.
Rugby leagueRugby league is also played, by the
AS CarcassonneAS Carcassonne club. They are
involved in the Elite One Championship.
Puig AubertPuig Aubert is the most
notable rugby league player to come from the
CarcassonneCarcassonne club. There
is a bronze statue of him outside the
Stade Albert DomecStade Albert Domec at which the
city's teams in both codes play.
In culture[edit]

Virtual tour of the fortified walls of the city of Carcasonne
Official website of the city of
CarcassonneCarcassonne (in English) / (in French)
/ (in Spanish) / (in German) / (in Dutch)
Cité de Carcassonne, from the French Ministry of Culture
INSEE